Veritas Vos Liberabit
by MuzzledRavings
Summary: Felix looked over the fire at his partner. He'd been lying to Boone for over a month now. Well, not lying so much as not disclosing the truth. Boone never asked and since he never asked, Felix never said anything.


**Veritas Vos Liberabit (The Truth will set you Free)**

Felix looked over the fire at his partner. He'd been lying to Boone for over a month now. Well, not _lying_ so much as not disclosing the truth. Boone never asked and since he never asked, Felix never said anything. It was tricky, keeping the secret. Felix had to be careful. Most times he thought twice before he spoke. And he was diligent, oh so diligent, in never changing cloths in front of his partner. Boone had commented on it once. Felix had lied and simply said he was modest. His partner had seemed to believe it.

Over a month now. A month of crimson, both in blood and faction. They'd cleared Nelson of the Legion threat early on. That had earned Boone's trust. After that they had cleaned up the west bank of the river a bit; culling any legionaries who had the misfortune of entering the sniper's sights. They worked well as a team. Boone handled the medium and long range and since Felix wasn't great with a gun he handled the medium and short. Boone had comment once that Felix held his own in melee with the Legion remarkably well; better than any NCR soldier he'd seen. Felix had lied then too, a rough childhood he had claimed. It was only partly a lie though.

Now they sat in a usual silence, watching the fire and cooking dinner. They were near the river still, but by paying careful attention to where they set up camp, they were relatively safe.

Felix had been toying with the idea of coming clean for a while now. He'd almost done it twice before but something else had gotten in the way. But he couldn't keep this up. He was done running.

"Boone." He said, suddenly noticing his dry throat. He overtly set his hunting shotgun aside then did the same with the hatchets on his belt. He even went so far as to remove the throwing knifes from his belt.

"What are you doing?" Boone asked in his usually gravelly voice.

"Disarming." Felix said, knowing he was pointing out the obvious.

"Why?" The impatience in Boone's voice was threatening.

"We need to talk." Felix said shaking his head. "Actually, I need to talk. There's something I need to tell you Boone."

"Spit it out then." Boone said roughly.

Direct and to the point as always, Felix thought with almost a smile. "I've been hiding something from you that you deserve to know." This was it. Boone would probably kill him for this. Probably would have killed him when they met in Novac if he'd know. Felix smiled sadly to himself. This was a better death though. Far better than many he had already come close to. To die at the hands of a friend, and a trained killer besides. At least he wouldn't suffer. Boone was looking over the fire impatiently at him. Might as well get to the point.

"I'm Legion." Felix said sadly, not able to bring his eyes up to meet Boone.

"What?" The voice was more confused than angry but it didn't last. A second later Boone was on his feet, rifle drawn and pointed at Felix. Felix waited, staring into the fire for the shot that didn't come.

Felix let out a momentary sigh of relief. "I kinda figured I'd be dead by now. Why aren't I?" He looked up at his once partner over the fire.

"Talk." Boone demanded. The tone inferred the _or else_.

"What else is there to tell?" Felix laughed harshly. "I was born in one of the eighty-six tribes the Legion has conquered. I don't remember which. Raised as a legionary, reached the rank of Decanus if you'd believe it. And now I'm sitting across from an NCR sniper whose family was destroyed by the Legion and I'm _still_ wondering why I'm not dead."

"You're a decanus?" The voice was cold and rough.

Felix nodded. "Yup, commanded six men. Did _horrible_ things. What happened to your wife was _commonplace_." Felix goaded slightly. He heard Boone shift and adjust his rifle. He also thought he heard him growl. "Come on, Boone!" Felix goaded again. "How often do you have an unarmed _decanus_ in front of you? Do it already!"

"You want it quick." Boone said coldly, quietly.

"Ideally." Felix agreed.

"What if I want to drag this out?" Boone said maliciously.

Felix shrugged. "Your call. But I can't guarantee you'll get what you're looking for out of it. I haven't felt pain in a _long_ time."

"Why'd you help me in Novac?" Boone growled.

"I can't answer that cause I honestly don't know."

"And saving my life last week? This all a ploy to gain my trust?"

"Nah, that legionary had you dead to rights. I could have left him to it. Rejoined my brothers with the offering of a First Recon sniper. It might have actually worked, come to think of it." Felix hadn't considered that. Bringing an elite NCR solider back with him might have settled things. Well it might have if he hadn't been on a month long Legion killing binge.

"Why aren't you with them anymore?" Felix heard genuine curiosity there.

"My contubernia was raiding in contested territory when we came under fire. Rangers I think. They thought they killed us to the man. Some scavenger came by later. Gave him one hell of a scare when he saw I was still alive. Figured he'd finally put me out of my misery. He dragged me back to his settlement. Lived with them… for a while. Until the Legion raised the village to the ground. Then I was on my own. Became a courier since Caesar's decree was 'courier shall not kill courier'. Figured if anyone recognized me they'd be bound by that."

"And now?" Boone asked harshly.

"Now." Felix said with a sigh. "I don't know. Figured _you'd_ be making that call."

"Now you're hunting legionaries."

"Am I?" Felix questioned. "I was defending myself and my partner." Felix hesitated then slowly pulled himself to his feet. He didn't have to look to know the rifle followed his every move. "Look Boone, I told you because I was sick of lying to you. I'm a _legionary_, one of the same fucks who took your wife. I can't be trusted. If you let me live you have no guarantee I won't kill you in your sleep. All I ask is you do a better job then the bastard in the checkered suit."

Silence enveloped the small campsite. Only the crackle of the fire and the chirping of crickets could be heard in the quiet night. Felix stared at Boone. Boone glared at Felix. Felix was ready to die. He'd made peace with the fact that he was a monster and nothing he could do would ever change that. Despite that, his survival instincts were still alive and well. And he still had a partner to protect. That's why he didn't hesitate. He charged forward toward Boone, barely dodging to avoid the bullet he knew would come. His boots caught the burning logs and sent them skittering across the sand as the rifle shot rang out. But Boone was a rank amateur when it came to close quarters and he didn't know the distance between them wasn't enough to protect him. Felix just managed to get around the bullet and reach Boone. He shoved him out of the way hard and sent him staggering several steps to his left. Felix managed to hold his footing enough to dodge the lethality of the coming machete but not the strike entirely and he felt the steel bite into his left shoulder and back. Felix was unarmed, but that didn't matter and he brought an uppercut up under the Legion recruit's chin, breaking teeth with the impact. He brought the recruit's face down on his knee and caved in his skull as he heard a rifle sound off in the night. Felix took the recruit's machete before he let the body fall and charged for the next legionary he _knew_ would be there.

Felix managed to slit the legionary's throat quickly, but not before he heard two more shots ring out. Boone was down to one shot; Felix would have to make sure he was safe to reload if there were many more coming. He glanced around quickly trying to find his next target. He heard a gunshot and felt the wind get knocked out of him. Absently, he looked down at the blood slowly spreading across his shirt. Boone had made his decision then. Felix barely kept his feet as the world started to fade. _A much better death than the others_, he thought as he collapsed to his knees. He passed out before he hit the ground.

Felix's eyes shot open the moment he regained consciousness. He ended up regretting that as the bright morning light stung his eyes. He tried to bring a hand up to cover his eyes but his shoulder wouldn't cooperate. He closed his eyes again. Had he survived the night? He tried to take stock of his injuries. He wasn't in pain, so that made it hard to find the damage. He knew one shoulder was out of commission and breathing was hard. He opened his eyes again and stared at the bright blue Mojave sky. He tried to roll onto his side to attempt to get up.

"Stop."

Felix recognized that angry, gravelly voice. He lay back and looked up at the sky. Forcing his lungs open enough to breath, he tried to speak. "They… get you?"

"No." He thought Boone sounded smug.

"Didn't… expect you'd… shoot to… wound." Felix wheezed.

"I didn't."

"But you… don't miss."

"I didn't shoot you."

Felix finally looked over to see Boone sitting across the burned out fire from where he laid. Boone's white shirt was red with blood and he was cleaning blood off his hands.

"Who's… blood?"

"Yours." Boone said sternly. "Had to fish that slug out of your chest."

Felix lifted his head to look down at his bandaged chest and shoulder. He then let his head fall back into the dirt. Against Boone's advice, he used his good hand to push himself up. Breathing got very hard for a moment while he sat up and he nearly blacked out, but he made it to a sitting position. He looked around. The Legion bodies still littered the ground around them. Beside him was a pile of spent medical supplies; bloody gauze, empty stimpaks and damaged tools. No small amount either; it was probably most, if not all they had with them.

"I take it this means you aren't going to kill me?" Felix finally said after catching his breath.

"No."

"Why not?"

Boone was quiet for several seconds. He finished wiping his hands clean and then grabbed his canteen and slacked his thirst. Felix just eyed him suspiciously. Eventually, Boone tossed the canteen over to him. Felix managed to catch it one handed.

"Because you're no legionary." Boone finally answered. "You might have been, once, but you aren't anymore."

"Still doesn't undo everything I've done." Felix lamented as he opened the canteen using his lap and one hand.

"No. It doesn't."

Felix nodded. "Thanks for saving my life, Boone. It was fun while it lasted."

Boone shook his head slowly. "Can't let a former legionary roam the Mojave freely."

"Gonna turn me in then?" Felix asked before taking a much needed drink.

"Think a First Recon escort should be sufficient."

Felix nearly spat out the water he was drinking at Boone's words. "I don't think you've thought this through, Boone." He said when he finished drinking.

"You follow NCR laws and we'll get along fine."

"Slight problem there; I don't _know_ NCR laws."

"Guess you need the escort then, eh?"

Felix couldn't help the chuckle. "Alright Boone, guess it's up to you to keep me on the straight and narrow."


End file.
